Work locating device



Jan. 24, 1956 CALQ 2,731,851

WORK LOCATING DEVICE Filed March 4, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 mama.

g nm an Jan. 24, 1955 CALQ 2,731,851

WORK LOCATING DEVICE Filed March 4, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR ARMANI) 6 CAI-O ATTORNEY Jan. 24, 1956 A. e. CALO 2,731,851 WORK LOCATING DEVICE Filed March 4, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 45 r 52 I I 40 I 1 57a l I I as 34 3s 42 57 INVENTOR ARMAND 6. CALO ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofiice 2,731,851 Patented Jan. 24, 1956 2,731,851 WORK LOCATING DEVICE Armand G. Calo, Shrewsbury, Mass., assignor to Johnson & Bassett, Inc., Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 4, 1953, Serial No. 340,261 7 Claims. (Cl. 74-527) successive machining operations on the same workpiece. The selective indexing mechanism of the present invention is particularly char- The above and other advantageous features of the invention will hereinafter more fully appear from the following description, considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. l is a view partially in side elevation and partially in vertical section of a work locating device embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a view in end elevation of the device of Fig. 1, as viewed from the left.

Fig. 5 is a view in end elevation of the selector plate of the device of Fig. 1, as viewed from the right.

Figs. 5a and 5b are fragmentary views-illustrating the functioning of the selector plate in different positions.

Fig. 6 is a view in end elevation of a modified form of selector plate.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the selector plate of Fig. 6 in association with an indexing plunger.

portion 3 will extend vertically. In order to secure the base 1 in position, the flange portion 2 provides a pair of slots 4, which, as best shown in Fig. 2, are adapted to and secured in position with reference to the work cutting element of a machine tool, such as a drill. The base 1 further provides a housing 6 extending at right angles to the flange portion 3 and a shaft 7 is ro tatably supported within the housing 6 by bearings 8. The left-hand end of the shaft 7 extends beyond the hearing housing 6 and provides an enlarged head portion 9 on which is mounted an index plate 10.

The plate 10 provides a central opening 11 surrounded by a flange 12 which fits on the shoulder adjacent to the head 9 of the shaft 7, with the plate 10 being secured in position on the head by means of screws 13. The plate 10 is l n order to indicate the location of the plate 10 in various angular positions with reference to the axis of the marking when setting up a workpiece attached to the plate 10.

The plate 10 may be clamped in any predetermined angular position with reference to the base 1 by means of a clamping device which comprises a bolt 19 having its head 20 received in a circular T-slot 21 formed in the rear face of the plate 10. The bolt 19 is insertable through an opening 22 at the front of the plate 10 so as to extend The parts of the mechanism described will be indicated by the reading of the markings 16 and 18 on the scale ring 15 and vernier plate 17, respectively.

workpiece on the plate 10 through predetermined and variable extents of angular movement. For this purpose, the rear face of the plate 10 provides a series of indexing holes 26 adjacent to its outer periphery, with the holes 26 being spaced apart at regular intervals, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4. It is to be noted that the intervals The indexing holes 26 in the plate are located very accurately, with the centers of the holes 26 spaced apart exactly in accordance with the chosen angular interval, as stated above. Therefore, the holes 26 provide means for positively locking the plate 1 in any one of a large number of different work supporting positions with a definite angular displacement therebetween, and the present invention provides a selective indexing mechanism cooperating with the plate 10. By the employment of this selective mechanism, the operator of the machine tool is enabled to predetermine successive machining positions for the workpiece, so that tool cuts may be produced therein with the desired angular relation therebetween.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 5, the indexing mechanism is shown as further comprising a selector plate 27 which is mounted on the right-hand end or the shaft 7 through its attachment to an end cap 28. A key 29 secures the end cap 28 to the shaft 7 and the plate 27 is secured to the cap 23 by dowel pins 3i) which are located on opposite sides of the axis of the shaft 7. The selector plate 27 is therefore adapted to turn with the index plate 10 on which the workpiece is mounted.

The selector plate 27 provides a series of holes 31 adjacent to its outer periphery, with the holes 31 being spaced apart at regular intervals. It is to be noted that the intervals between the holes 31 as measured around the periphery of the plate 27 subtend an angle of fifteen degrees which intervals correspond with the intervals between the indexing holes 26 in the plate 10 and between the scale markings 16 on the ring 15.

The holes 31 on the selector plate 27 are threaded so that each hole may receive the threaded end of a selector button 32. When the indexing device is not in use, these buttons 32 are mounted in a series of threaded holes 33 provided in the plate 27 within the outside series of holes 31. The number of buttons 32 corresponds to the number of holes 31, so that the buttons 32 can be removed individually from their storing holes 33 and placed within the holes 31 in any desired arrangement around the periphery of the selector plate 27. The diameter of each button 32 is such that it projects slightly beyond the periphery of the plate 27 and a button 32 located in any selected hole 31 will have an angular setting corresponding to one of the scale markings 16 on the ring of the plate 10.

As previously pointed out, 10 provides a series of holes 26 corresponding in number and in angular displacement to the series of holes 31 on the selector plate 27. Furthermore, when the plate 27 is secured to the cap 28 by the pins 30, the two series of holes 26 and 31 will lie in pairs along a series of lines radiating from the central axis of the shaft 7, as indicated by the dot and dash lines in Fig. 5.

The holes 26 in the plate 10 are for the purpose of receiving the reduced end 34 of a locking plunger 35, which, asbest shown in Fig. 3, is slidably mounted within an opening 36 extending horizontally through the fiange 3 of the base 1. The plunger 35 is yieldably maintained with its end 34 in a hole 26 by means of a spring 37 surrounding the plunger between a fixed collar 38 secured to the flange 3 within the hole 36 and a shoulder 39 on the plunger.

The plunger 35 extends beyond the face of the flange 3 and is connected to an operating link 40 having a slot 41 therein through which extends a lever 42, the inner end of which is mounted to turn on a pivot 43 supported by a lug 44 projecting from the housing 6, as best shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The lever 42 is connected to the link 40 by a pin 45, so that by turning the lever-on its pivot 43 the end 34 of the plunger 35 can be withdrawn from the particular hole 26 in which it is then held by the pressure of the spring 37. When this occurs, the index plate 10 and the selector plate 27 can be turned in unison about the axis of the shaft '7, assuming that the rear tace of the plate the clamping handle H has been turned previously to release the clamping bolt 19. The degree of such turning is determined by the arrangement of indexing buttons 32 on the plate 27 and their cooperation with a selector finger 46 located at the end of the link 46.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the finger 46 is slidably mounted at the end of the link 40 so as to move at right angles thereto, with a spring 47 serving to press the finger outwardly until the head of a guide pin 48 engages the side of the link. Therefore, when the lever 42 occupies the position of Fig. 2 with the end of the plunger 35 in a hole 26, the spring 47 is slightly compressed since the finger 46 is at that time bearing on the smooth outer periphery of the plate 27. This is the normal position of the plunger 35 at the end of a cutting operation performed on a workpiece while maintained in an angular setting determined by the particular location of the button 32 that has previously actuated the plunger 35 to lock the plate 16 in an indexed position.

When it is desired to again index the workpiece for the performance of another cutting operation thereon at a different angle, the lever 42 is moved to the right as viewed in Fig. 2, thereby withdrawing the inner end 34 of the plunger 35 from the hole 2.6. As this movement of the plunger occurs, the finger 46 will be forced radially outward against the pressure of the spring 47 as an inclined surface 49 of the finger rides on the edge of a button 32. At this point the end of the finger 46 is still riding on the surface of the button 32, see Fig. 5, and it is now possible to tree the linger from the button by imparting a very slight turning movement to the plate 27. When this occurs, the linger as will be free to move radially inward under the pressure of the spring 47 until the end thereof overhangs the face of the plate 27, as indicated in Fig. 5a.

The finger 46 will then prevent the plunger 35 from moving inwardly under the pressure of the spring 37, leaving the plates 1i and 27 free to turn to position the workpiece in a new angular setting which is determined by the location of the next button 32 in one of the holes 31. In Fig. 5, the next button is shown as being displaced an angle of thirty degrees from the button which has previously been moved from engagement with the finger follow ing the turning of the lever 42.

Fig. 5b illustrates the indexing action which occurs when the plate 27 is manually turned in a clockwise direction from the position of Fig. 5a to engage the next button 32 with the pointed end of the finger 46. As previously noted, this button 32 is displaced by an angle of thirty degrees from the button with which the finger 46 has previously been engaged. Therefore, as this second button 32 moves into a position in which its center is located opposite to the center line of the finger 46, the finger will be pressed outwardly until its end clears the periphery of the plate 27. This movement of the finger .46 releases the plunger 35 from the holding action of the plate 27, so that the compressed spring 37 immediately shifts the plunger 35 to the left to enter its end 34 in the particular plate opening 26 which lies on the same radius line as the second button 32.

From the foregoing description of the relation between the parts it will be apparent that the buttons 32 can be located in the holes 31 of the selector plate 27 in any desired arrangement in order to cause successive operations to be performed on the workpiece with difierent angular settings with respect to the axis of the shaft 7. For example, with the buttons 32 arranged as shown in Fig. 5, the plate 10 will be locked in position after it-has been turned through an angle of thirty degrees, then sixty degrees, then ninety degrees, then seventy-five degrees, and finally through an angle of one hundred and five degrees to bring the the starting point.

plate back to large number oi combinations can be worked out by varying the arrangement of the buttons 32, and all that is required of the operator is to locate the buttons in accordance with the desired the necessity of mechanism.

Obviously, the interval between the holes 26 and 31, as measured angularly around the peripheries of the plates and 27 can be varied shown being merely illustrative.

sequence of operations, without changing any other parts of the, indexing the holes 31 in the plate cooperate with a series that are secured to the plate 51 by screws threaded openings in number and in spacing to the pins 52. that is adapted of blocks 53 owever, should any b so that its opening 56 is out of engagement with a pin 52 as shown in Fig. 6, then the finger 57 will enter the Otherwise, the operation of the indexing mechanism is substantially the same as described above with reference to the plate 27 and the finger 46.

27. These .pins 52 are adapted to arrangement of said selector elements.

2. A work locating device comprising in combination,

element is in alignment therewith.

3. A work locating device comprising in combination, rotatably mounted in said base, an index 7, a pilot 59 is a. workpiece thereon and lock itin position, means for moving said locking member into and. out;v of engagement with the indexing openings, a selector .plate secured. to said shaft at the end, opposite to said; index plate, with the plane of said. selector plate. disposed. at right angies to the path movement of saidlockinginember a. plurality of selector elements angnlarly displaced, around the periphery of said: selector plate, and ayieldabl'e. projection onsaid locking member. or engagement withsaid selector plate, to preyenttheent'ry of; said; member into an indexing opening, except Whensaid' projection. is moved by a se' lector elementto disengageit frontsaidplate.

4. Awork locating device comprising in. combination, a base, a shaft .rotatably mounted in said. base, an index plate. attached to. one end. .02 said. shaft for the support. of awonkpiecein any .one of anurnberofyangnlarly dis placed positions as. determined by tbelocation of a series of. .angnlarly displaced indexing openings. arranged, around the periphery. ofvsaid;indexsplateeaimovable. lockingmerm ber slidablymounied the basefor edge game t withsaid. indexing openings of said index plate to angular-1y locate a workpiece. thereon and. lock it. potsition, means for yieldably. urging-said. locking ;menrber intov said iildfildfigplate secured to said. shait. at the;

openings, a sele or. end opposite. to. saidaindex. plate, with the plane. of said selector plate disposed; atrightangles .to the path of moire-- ment. of said locking member, a plurality- .of selector eie ments. angularly displaced. around selector plate and projecting thcrefnomvand a projection on said locking member for engagement with a selector element. to prevent the entry of said member into an .index'ing opening until turning of. saidselector plate moves the. periphery of said av selector, element ont. ofengagement. said projection. to release. said locking member, .for. movement-into an.

indexing opening.

5. A. work locating, .deviceicompnising in combination, a

a base. a shaft. rotatable mountedin said. base a disc shaped index the support of a workpiece inany' one of a number: of predetermined angnlarly disposed positions, a. series. of angularly arrange indexing openings: in. said index plate, said openings being equidistant from said shafnalocking member mounted; on: saidbase parallel .to-said shaft,,..one end of. said. locking member beingadapted to slidably and yieldably engage. said. indexing. openings, at disc-shaped selector plate attached. to. the. other end. of said shaft, and parallel with. said. index plate, the. planes. of both of. said plates being disposed at rightanglestto the path of move rnent of said. locking mern. en, a plurality of selectorele-- ments angularly disposed. around the. periphery of said selector plate, and adapted to. project beyondsaid periphery; a flange on the other end. of. saidv lockingmember adapted to, engagetheprojecting ends of. saidselector. elements so, as. to permit entry. of saidlocking member into such indexing openings. as are determined by aproiection pattern ofsaid'selector elements.

6. The device according toclaiht. 5, wherein saidlocke g member is allowed to slide into-.saidopeningsin: direct relation to the, projecting elements.

7; The d'eviceaccordingto claimS. wherein .saidloolsing' member is constrained fnoni. .silding; into, saidopenings in direct relation to the projecting elements.

References, Cited in the file. of. this patent. UNITED STATES PATENTS plate attached to one end of said slaaftftm 

